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If you’re at a picnic, do you go for the potato salad or the cole slaw? I’m a cole slaw person always – the really sweet mayonnaise-y kind. But potatoes smothered in mayo? No thanks. Why is cabbage in mayo better than potatoes in mayo? No clue. But while I don’t go for “potato salad,” I do like a potato salad.

Of course, what I mean is that this is a salad… with potatoes (and green beans and yellow wax beans and some other things). Instead of mayo, it’s dressed with everything that I think goes best with potatoes: olive oil, good dijon mustard, garlic capers, lemon, parsley and fresh oregano (I’ve got a ton of it growing in my backyard right now).

I couldn’t resist these pretty purple potatoes that were at the farmers market, but Yukon Golds, new potatoes, or fingerling potatoes would work just fine here.

I also couldn’t pass up these gorgeous green and yellow wax beans – a goop-y beige potato salad, this is not.

I added some cooked bulgur (that I had leftover), and soft boiled eggs to make it a meal on it’s own. But you could skip those things, toss this into a big bowl and serve it as a bbq side dish. It should sit well at room temp because, of course, there’s no mayonnaise.

It’s national doughnut day, so obviously, I have waffles. The thing about doughnuts is that I like them best when other people make them. Waffles – I like at home, piping hot right off of the waffle maker. (or the next day out of the toaster).

I love being able to decide what goes in my waffles – this time I folded cacao nibs into the batter and topped them strawberries with a little bit of mint. Cacao nibs are like little crunchy pieces of dark chocolate. I like them in here because first, they don’t gunk up my waffle maker and second, I guess they’re a good source of fiber and other sort of superfoodie things. Feel free to sub in chocolate chips if you like.

These are vegan, because I actually like how they get crispier around the edges without any eggs in the batter. I use spelt flour, because that’s what I keep on hand. I like it because it’s not quite as dense as whole wheat flour.

I know many of you don’t have a waffle maker – so I have to tell you about this new one that I just got that I’m pretty excited about. It flips so the top and bottom of your waffle cook evenly, it’s pretty affordable, and best of all, you can store it standing upright! I was always mad at my last waffle maker because it took up an entire shelf, but this one can slide in right next to your cereal box. Ok, sales pitch over. Happy friday and go make waffles!

After I posted my list of favorite spring cookbooks, I could tell that this is the book you’ve all been waiting for – and I’m here to tell you that Sara & Hugh Forte’s new book, Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon, doesn’t disappoint. The photos are of course gorgeous, and the food… well it makes you want to dig in with a spoon because it all looks so incredibly vibrant and delicious!

The book has been sitting on my desk for a little while now, among a slew of papers, books, and other messy-desk things – which is how this recipe from the back cover happened to catch my attention. I love tabbouleh, I love strawberries, and I love salads mixed with sweet and savory things, so here we go…

Instead of putting my own spin on things, I thought I’d go crazy and just follow the recipe exactly as Sara wrote it. (Except I didn’t have parsley so at the last minute, I chopped up basil). I don’t cook a lot with bulgur but I should – it’s so easy to make and I love how it has a more mellow flavor than quinoa. Of course, if you’re gluten free, go ahead and use quinoa in this recipe.

Feta is optional, but since she made a special note about how her “resident taste tester would argue it’s absolutely necessary,” I went for it. The only thing that was really missing here was the pretty picnic scene that should have been in the background. We ate this for dinner last night, but it would definitely be picnic-perfect.

Other recipes that are on my list: the Hippie Bowl (check out this cute post from A Couple Cooks), the Tahini Kale Slaw & Roasted Tamari Portobello Bowl, and this mixed berry tiramisu. Click here to get the book!

As I’m putting the finishing touches on our book, (T minus 3 days!) I thought now would be a good time to start making recipes from other peoples’ books…

Last week, I briefly talked about Anna’s book, A Modern Way To Eat. While it’s been out for awhile now, it’s only recently been released in the US and I finally got my hands on a copy. What I love about it is that it’s more than just a book full of recipes (although there are over 200 of them!)… she offers tons of delicious ideas for how to mix flavors and textures together in creative but not-fussy ways.

Last night, I was looking for something quick to make for dinner – the only requirement was that I had to have the ingredients already on hand. This spaghetti with avocado and lemon zest had my name written all over it – I’m a sucker for anything with avocado, yet I’d never thought to put it on pasta before. The only thing I didn’t have was parsley so I used a bit of watercress instead.

My favorite part about the recipe has to be her final instruction: “Scoop the pasta into bowls and eat on your lap.” Done and done.

Over here the skies are gloomy and it hardly feels like the start of Memorial Day weekend – but I hope it’s sunnier where you are and that you have some fun outdoor party plans this weekend. Here are a few recipe ideas to get you started!